


Hide-and-seek

by purple_evening



Category: ARGONAVIS from BanG Dream! AAside (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Child Neglect, Gen, Running Away, but Momo-chan makes it better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-01-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:53:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28884924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/purple_evening/pseuds/purple_evening
Summary: Running away from home is not nearly as fun as the books and movies make it seem. That's why Shuu is doing anything but that. He was simply in the mood for some hide-and-seek on his birthday.It's not his fault everyone refuses to play with him.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Hide-and-seek

The old park lights lining the main alley flicker to life with a quiet buzz. A gust of wind scatters fallen leaves across the concrete path. String decorations tied to the lamp-posts sway back and forth, metal pumpkins and bats clinking together. Car headlights filtered through the tree branches cast strange, long shadows as they pass just outside of the small park. 

A pair of students lingers at the gate, standing close together as they talk. A tall boy with a sports bag hanging off his arm hugs his shoulders, shivering in a thin school jacket. His friend, carrying a large instrument case, shakes his head and takes off his scarf and gloves, handing them over. Their gestures as they argue have an air of a well-practiced formality. Before they go the opposite ways, they turn around to wave several times.

A salaryman dashes down the main alley, his unbuttoned coat flapping in the wind. A young man sitting on one of the benches jumps up and then slumps down again, wrapping his fingers around a lidded paper cup. Again and again, he glances from his phone to the park clock.

Five or so minutes later, a woman dressed for an outing appears on the path. She walks slowly, craning her neck as if looking for something or someone. The moment she spots the man waiting on the bench, she rushes over, nearly tripping in her high heels, and bows several times. Her companion holds up his palms in an “okay, okay” gesture. Linking their fingers, they head for the city, bounce in their steps.

With the dull clouds covering the sky, each heading somewhere, none of the passersby stop to look up. The young couple is so absorbed in each other, neither the leaves rustling suspiciously above their heads, nor a pebble that comes flying from above and rattles on the concrete at their feet, can get their attention.

“Dear me, I missed”. 

A small figure swings his legs idly from a thick tree branch. One of the boy’s leather loafers has come off, hanging precariously on his toes, but it doesn’t seem to concern him any; he kicks forward in a wider arc, as if daring the shoe to fall off. His hands are hidden in the long sleeves of an oversized jacket, simply leaning on the branch rather than holding on. His tartan pants, though expensive at a glance, are rolled up unevenly and rumpled from climbing. Though his outfit belongs on a mannequin in a fashionable boutique or a street snap in a magazine, he monochromatic color scheme seems too serious for the boy’s age, giving an impression that he did not choose his clothes himself. A petite doll that snuck out of the dollhouse to play.

Yet, the boy’s mouth is twisted in a pout, his eyes scanning the park in disinterest. With the sparse autumnal foliage, the old, spreading tree in the middle of the park makes for a good vantage point, though not the best hiding spot - at least, that was what Shuu had thought. He fishes for his phone and sighs as he unlocks the screen. He flicks away the notifications from mobile games and comments on his new song, hesitates for a moment over a text from Noisy Crowface, but dismisses it without reading. It arrived in the morning; if Reiji hasn’t come screeching and cawing at him yet, it couldn’t be anything important, right?

There are no new calls or voice messages. At school, all those people whose names he can’t bother to remember were in such a rush to talk to him, pushing boxes wrapped in glittery paper and glossy paper bags into his hands. He had stashed the presents haphazardly in his locker; he adds a reminder in his calendar to send Reiji to retrieve them, should they come tumbling out the moment the door is opened, and makes a mental note to hide behind the corner with his camera at the ready. 

Shuu checks the messaging app, just to make sure - sometimes the notifications got buggy - but he’s not surprised to find nothing there. Even as he pushed past them, his classmates, and not only; there were upperclassmen mixed it, even a few corporate sons and daughters from the high-school division - all bows, honorifics and masks of polite disappointment, asked over and over if he really wouldn’t be holding a party, but now that they did what their parents had expected of them, they’ve all gone silent. So predictable. 

The last recorded call from the Ujigawa residence is from a week ago. The clock shows 18:15 - three hours after Shuu’s classes have ended.

It was supposed to be a game - a just a little round of hide-and-seek. With minimal persuasion, a nice upperclassman showed him how to get out of the school through the sports grounds. He changed in one of the empty club rooms. After avoiding the chauffeur who always picked him up at the front gate, and stuffing his bag and uniform into a coin locker nearby, he was free to go wherever he wanted. Only, the shopping district bored him after an hour, his favorite flavor of ice-cream sold out, despite the season, and when he snuck past the staff into the arcade he realized he forgot to withdraw money. The machines exchanged bills for change, but he had just sent Reiji on some errand the day before with a roll of Yukichis. All he could afford was a few tries on the claw machine. He was just figuring out how the mechanism was rigged when his coins ran out.

Shuu scoots over closer to the trunk of the tree for balance and hugs his leg, resting his cheek on his knee. The park has become deserted. As he climbed up here, he imagined what faces the servants sent to look for him would make if he suddenly jumped down, but they made him wait for so long there is no one around to play with.

“How boring...”

Shuu is tempted to switch off the tracker on his phone, or just throw it into the garbage can below, see how many points he can score, and then buy tickets for the first express train he can catch. He has enough in his bank account and on several chargeable cards - Suica, Pasmo, take your pick - to travel across the country without worrying about food or lodging for a while. Whether any reputable hotel would let an eleven year old book a room by himself is a different story. The moment he asked for one, the receptionist would be calling the police to report a runaway. It wouldn’t even be necessary; For Ujigawa Group, accessing security footage or tracking his credit card would be akin to ordering takeout at a restaurant. A small errand, child’s play. Papa could have him dragged home without showing up in person.

The way there’s no one coming could be Papa’s doing, too. If it was just the servants holding the fort at the main house, left to make the decisions, they would have sent someone to fetch him, Shuu supposes. At the very least, no one on Ujigawa’s payroll would want a kidnapping or a tragic accident of the sole heir to happen during their shift. Not that Shuu thinks Papa would have fired anyone over something like that. Shuu has no official position in the company, no shares; Papa doesn’t make any money on his songs, either, since Shuu uploads them for free, under a pseudonym. Unless that streaming platform belongs to Papa too - it suddenly occurs to Shuu that he didn’t check. Papa owns so much in the industry it’s hard to keep track. But Shuu’s disappearance wouldn’t leave a permanent mark on Duck River’s accounts. Papa wouldn’t give in to ransom demands; maybe if it was for Mama, she’s a public figure and they’re always playing a perfect couple for the cameras, but not for Shuu. The costs of a funeral would be steep, but they would recoup the loss quickly. No need to pay personal tutors, buy clothes, wire money to a whiny kid to keep him out of the way.

If Papa was informed, he would have told the staff to keep track of his phone, but let him run around until he gets tired. Papa doesn’t play a game unless he gets to dictate the rules, or change them at his convenience. Shuu’s tutor calls it business, but Shuu calls it being a spoilsport - and other words, that he’s not allowed to say. It would make him look like a brat throwing a tantrum, anyway, so he only says them in his head.

Shuu adjusts himself again. He’s been sitting up in the tree for too long, the branch no longer seeming as comfortable as before. Yet, enough time has passed that getting down now would be admitting a defeat, making his whole escapade pointless. If he could at least get a security guard to chase after him, safe in the knowledge that no old man could catch up to his young legs, and even if he was caught, the geezer couldn’t do anything to him - but the park is too small to have a guard or a janitor in the first place.

A strange sound, a bit like the whistle of wind, but higher and more discordant, reaches Shuu’s ears. He looks around curiously, but the park is as empty as before. Balancing carefully, Shuu stands up and peers over the fence of the park. Just outside, he spots a vending machine, glowing brightly in the night. Next to it, there’s a bench, and on it, a small boy is curled up, weeping into his arms.

“Ooh? How interesting~”

Shuu lowers himself to a crouch, grips the branch with both hands and swings down, like from monkey bars. He stumbles a bit on the damp grass, but stays standing.

“Ujigawa Shuu- _senshu_ sticks the landing!”

Hands in his pockets, confidence in his step, like there is nothing strange about him being out this late, Shuu strolls over to the vending machine. To a small delight of his, the machine accepts Suica cards. Acting oblivious to the boy, he swipes his card through the reader and buys a drink. He recalls the sour face of the woman teaching him etiquette and downs a half of the bottle in one go with a satisfied _Haaa_ , exactly how he’s not supposed to do. After all the running around, the juice tastes delicious.

Shuu glances at the boy on the bench out of the corner of his eye. At first, it seems like the kid didn’t notice him, but his sobs have halted, his form growing unnaturally stiff. He’s pretending he isn’t there, Shuu chuckles to himself. A rather poor showing, but Shuu can play along. Putting on a show is all he ever does, most days.

He turns around on his heel, as if about to head home, and stops in his tracks with a slight jump. “Oya..? What are you doing here, young man? At such a late hour…Would you like oniisan here to take you to the police station? ”

The boy doesn’t look up. “I’m fine…,” he mutters into his arms. “Leave me alone.”

Shuu puts his hands on his hips. “Tut-tut. Not only do you run away from home, but you respond so rudely to a concerned elder? Today’s youth, really.”

“I didn’t run away!” the kid jolts up, raising his voice. “Why do you even… wait, you’re no _oniisan_! You’re as small as me! I bet you ran away, too!”

“Excuse me, I am simply taking an evening stroll, like adults do. You, however, just admitted to running away.”

Falling speechless for a moment, the kid simply stares at Shuu with a mixture of defiance and disbelief. His bottom lip is quivering. 

Shuu raises an eyebrow. “So, why did you run? Did your parents refuse to buy you the new toy you wanted?”

“...It’s my birthday!”The boy blurts out, anger and hurt burning in his eyes. “Daddy said he’d come home early, but it was way past time for dinner, and he didn’t come! I was all alone! Maybe when he returns to the empty house, he’ll know how I feel!”

Shuu easily schools his expression into an impassive mask, not showing any sign that the boy’s words hit close to home. It’s barely a light prickle, not enough to make his breath hitch in his throat. A quiet, cold calm washes over him.

“And?”

At first, Shuu hadn’t known there was anything off about his servants bringing him cake and presents on his birthday. He had been perfectly content, getting seconds of ice-cream and watching TV and playing games long after bedtime, until he fell asleep on the couch. The first year after enrolling in the prestigious Duck River-sponsored preschool, later than most kids did, just for the sake of the escalator program, he started hearing the stories about parties, friends coming to visit, parents taking days off. Some girl bragged about her mother making her favorite dish without help of any staff; a boy cut in saying that food is nothing, he was taken to his father’s airport and could see the planes from up close, he could even sit in the pilot’s seat! The first time they asked Shuu what the Ujigawa family did, he excused himself with a stomach ache. The second time he has a story ready, appropriate expressions studied in front of the mirror. It got more believable each time, and by the time he advanced to primary school, his options expanded. He didn’t even have to keep notes; what fun would it be, to do the same thing each year?

It got easier, after the senior concierge and the head maid bought him Momo-chan. Momo-chan was happy to see him any day, not just on his birthday, but somehow, on the day it always felt more special.

Thinking of Momo-chan’s clever eyes , Shuu feels a small pang of guilt. He imagines Momo-chan’s paws on the polished floors, nose poking into every room, looking for her master. If someone from the house staff tries to shoo her, or lock her up somewhere…

Shuu digs his fingernails into his thigh and returns his attention to the annoyance at hand. The toy suddenly interests him much less.

“...What do you mean, and?”, The boy in the present asks, taken aback.

“I mean, is that all? Your father having to work overtime once is the end of the world? Poor baby. Let onii-san hug you.”

“Wh- I don’t wanna be told that by some rich kid! Look at these clothes - I saw them on the display in that fancy shop at the mall, the one that didn’t have price tags! Daddy said it’s best for us to not even enter… I bet you get anything you want! What do you even know?”

“Daddy this, daddy that, how noisy,” Shuu spits out. “Being rich isn’t all sunshine and roses. I don’t expect the populace to understand, though.”

“Po..place?” Seeing Shuu roll his eyes, the boy scrambles for a comeback. “But, you said you didn’t run away! So you like it, in the end! You’re just too spoiled to run away properly!”

He points an accusing finger at Shuu, raising his chin, a victorious glint in his red-rimmed eyes. 

Shuu sighs.

“I see that you watched too many movies, so I’ll tell you why, as a special birthday treat. Listen closely, because onii-san will only say this once.”

“Are you even ten years old…”

“Eleven, thank you very much. Be quiet.” Shuu clears his throat. “We are living in the world of adults. Even money can’t substitute for the privileges and power they got just by being _older._ ” He speaks the last word with a particular amount of venom. “That’s why kids can’t get far by acting recklessly. You have to plan, outsmart them. Just look at yourself - for all your _wittle hurt feelings_ , what can you do? You’ve come all the way here, and now what?”

The corners of Shuu’s mouth curl up at the boy’s stupefied expression. “See. Think upon it for a while. It’s wisdom of your elders, gained with experience~”.

Shuu puts his hands into his pockets and turns to leave. As he begins to walk away, the boy calls after him, his voice going up in badly-concealed alarm.

“Wait...Where are you going?”

“Home. My cute puppy is waiting for me. It’s way past the time for a walk.”

“Oh… Pet it, from me.”

Shuu looks over his shoulder. The kid on the bench has wrapped his arms around himself, his shoulders drooping, the bravado from earlier gone. On any other day, Shuu would find the sight satisfying, amusing, but somehow, he’s not in the mood for a laugh at the moment.

“Hey. You like dogs?”

“Me? I do… Landlady says no pets, though…”

With another sigh, Shuu dogs in his pocket and tosses something over. The boy just barely catches it, turns it around in his hand. A Suica card.

“I have one like this, though?”

“There should be around 10 thousand on this one. Spend it on whatever. Some shops take it as payment, not just trains.” Feeling uncomfortable in his own skin, he adds hastily, “But now, stop embarrassing yourself. Go home already.”

He jams his airpods into his ears before he can hear the response. Once he’s out of the brat’s earshot, he starts to hum wordlessly, grasping the idea for a new song.

**Author's Note:**

> Noisy Crowface - from karasu, crow, in Reiji's surname.  
> 'Yukichis' - 10 000 yen bills feature the famous author Fukuzawa Yukichi.  
> senshu - athlete, a honorific added to names of professional sportspeople.


End file.
